This bruschetta recipe is proof that not all yummy things are hard to make. Goat cheese bruschetta is a fantastic appetizer for a lunch with friends, or for a refreshing dinner.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 baguette, sliced

2 T. balsamic vinegar

2 T. chopped fresh herbs, such as dill, parsley, or basil

Goat cheese

Directions

Preheat broiler to high. Combine balsamic vinegar and herbs. Place bread slices on a broiler pan. Char bread on each side under hot broiler. You can also grill bread if you prefer. Drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette over slices of toasted baguette and spread with goat cheese. Finish with another drizzle of vinaigrette. Garnish with thyme.

Wouldn’t it be great to come home from a busy day and know that dinner is already planned and prepped?

With a little work ahead of time, meals can be A LOT easier and less stressful.

In this episode, Erin and I talk about delicious meals and easy ways to have a freezer full of meals ready to go, including LOOP (Left Overs On Purpose) and the Six Chicks Freeze and Fix co-op strategy.

There is enough drama around Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner that it’s best to keep some things very simple. The funny thing is, four of the five super simple recipes listed below are the ones that we get requests to make (and for the recipes… I end up emailing at least a couple of my kids or their friends the recipes every holiday season.

So here are 5 Quick Dishes To Make (or Bring) for Thanksgiving or Christmas. whether you’re hosting at home, or bringing these on the road, you’ll be thankful for a few appetizers and deserts you can make (mostly) ahead.

It can seem like a daunting task to make the perfect turkey, but I promise you, it isn’t. Try my turkey recipe and follow my instructions, and you’ll have a table full of guests licking their fingers and begging for more. But beware, this turkey is so good, there may not be any leftovers for turkey sandwiches.

Kathi’s Brined Turkey

Ingredients

1 gallon water – cold

1 cup sea salt

1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 bottle dry white wine

3 oranges, cut in half

Directions

In a large garbage bag, combine the all the ingredients.

Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bag in a roasting pan and in the refrigerator overnight, turning once.

I have vanilla on my oatmeal every single morning. The problem? I can absolutely tell the difference between vanilla extract and imitation vanilla. And the real stuff? It’s not cheap. At our grocery store, the good stuff is $3 an ounce. Our family joke was that it would be cheaper for us to take a Baja cruise and get of in Ensanada to buy cheap vanilla than for me to get it at Costco.

So when I saw recipes floating around the web for homemade extract, I gave it a try. It is super easy (the hardest part is waiting the six weeks for the beans to masticate in the vodka.

Meal time can be one of the most hectic times in a mama’s day. With today’s busy schedules, it is easier to drive through than dive in to your kitchen.

These easy steps will help you make meal planning easy so that you can get to the fun part of connecting with your family and not just the food!

Step 1:

Create a master list of meals for the month. Click here for a list of FREEBIES where you can find a shopping/inventory sheet to make your meal planning easy! Keep in mind your family schedule as you create meals for each day. Tuesdays and Thursdays tend to be less chaotic in our home, so I can plan a little more elaborate meal for those days. Now, some days, elaborate may mean that I just put a pat of butter on the green beans before serving, but usually it means that I can make something that might take a bit more time or preparation. The “What’s For Dinner?” Solution is a wonderful resource to create quick, easy, affordable meals.

Step 2:

Put each of the meals into categories for easy planning. A few that I use are Freezer meals – ones that I have on the freezer already, Slow Cooker meals – ones that I will need my crock pot for and create ahead of time, or LOOP meals – Left Over On Purpose. This might mean a turkey pot pie from the leftover turkey from the dinner the night before. Once you have the meals, you can organize what you need for each meal.

Step 3:

Create the calendar and make copies of it for the next couple months. Some things might change, but when you have a template to work from, it makes life a whole lot easier. After you use it, you can evaluate if the system is working.

Planning your meals ahead of time will help you feel more in control and less frazzled at dinner hour. Thinking ahead gives you the freedom to enjoy your day. To help you start planning right away, just subscribe to my blog right over there in the purple little post-it and get a free copy of The Ultimate Guide to Man Food. Easy Peasy!